Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 655: The Egyptian King

To Guo Kang's surprise, the counterattack they launched actually forced the enemy to retreat.

Amid the explosions, the Mamluks who were attacking earlier ran back, jumped on their horses and ran away. Some people couldn't find horses in a hurry, and even rode their teammates' horses to escape. Some people thought the armor was too heavy, so they simply cut the ropes with a few knives, threw the vest on the ground, and then turned around and ran away.

The first advantage inspired everyone. Not only did the scattered Russians gather together again, but the Knights of the Order and the Syrian Mamluks who had run to the back of the team also stopped and turned to move towards them, driving away the group of enemies on the right wing who were still watching. Guo Kang quickly asked everyone to reorganize the formation and restore the scattered front line in the hand-to-hand combat, preparing to deal with the enemy's next attack.

Some Mamluks retreated to the rear, while others were still lingering in front of the battle. One brave Mamluk even rode alone to the front of the battle and shouted a few words.

"What is he talking about?" Guo Kang asked.

"He said you are all idolatrous Mongols who are just pretending to be believers. But unlike the others, they have never been afraid of you. They defeated you many times in Syria more than a hundred years ago. If you have the guts, come out and fight him in single combat," said Idris.

"We don't even have a horse right now, how can we fight one-on-one..." Guo Kang said speechlessly.

"Captain, you can't force your way onto the warhorse even if you have one," Idris reminded quickly.

Guo Kang didn't care about it, but Zhu Wenkui next to him was very angry.

"You are the Mongolian!" He looked up and cursed back: "Your whole family is Mongolian!"

"Alright, alright." Guo Kang quickly held him down: "Is this what you're fussing about..."

Ma Wanjun, who was standing nearby, picked up his bow and shot the man off his horse with one arrow. The other Mamluks shouted and began to shoot arrows at this side again. A group of people shouted and rode their horses forward, as if preparing to attack again.

However, after the two sides exchanged fire for a while, the enemy did not counterattack. Instead, a horn sounded from behind the Mamluks, and someone waved a flag and shouted something. The Mamluks, who were still reorganizing, immediately withdrew without looking back.

Guo Kang and his companions wanted to give chase, but the enemy ran very fast, even beyond their expectations. Captain Jessica also waved a flag in his direction, asking him not to chase, probably because he suspected that the enemy was cheating, so he hoped that everyone would strengthen the defense first.

However, they soon found out what was going on - after the enemy ran away, the battlefield behind them was also visible. Guo Kang climbed onto a cart and saw that there was also a high cloud of dust behind the position. Many cavalrymen surrounded Tuohuan's purple-edged flag and rushed to the left in groups.

The first battalion of the legion, not far behind them, was now chasing a group of cavalry. Some people in the team even shot arrows while running, shooting down several Bedouin cavalry in front.

On the left side of their brigade, the Night Watch brigade had already deployed their formation again, forming a long snake formation. The enemy's light cavalry attacked them from the front and back, but these people ignored them and continued to extend their formation, blocking a large number of retreating enemies. Some enemy cavalry could only turn further back, trying to withdraw before the Roman cavalry arrived. Some others were too far away and had to turn back again, hoping to evacuate from Guo Kang's breakthrough again and join the infantry.

About a thousand people joined the team, and under the command of a man in gorgeous armor, they rode at full speed. The first to arrive were the Bedouin riders who had no decent armor and were wearing large robes. While Guo Kang and others were still adjusting their formation, they rushed towards the unattended gap between them and the Moriah group.

Guo Kang immediately ordered the 100th team to intercept them, and ordered the new Ross soldiers to quickly form a team and prepare for the fight, so as not to let them all run away. However, the Bedouins were very fast, and before the 100th team arrived, the leading few had already rushed into the Egyptian infantry.

The Egyptian infantry didn't know what was happening behind them. Some of them waved and cheered at the Bedouin riders, as if they thought they had joined them again and were about to launch a new offensive. However, the Bedouin riders had no time to pay attention to them, and just kept pushing their way into the crowd, trying to squeeze through the infantry and leave the battlefield from behind them.

Those who were blocked by the cavalry and hit by them cursed and accused them. And more people, including the junior officers who commanded them, obviously thought that this was a sign to cooperate with the cavalry and launch an attack again. These people were messengers. Therefore, a large group of Egyptian infantry, while making way for the passage, once again rushed to the gap between the two large groups.

The situation on Guo Kang's side was also very chaotic. After a round of fighting, the Ross recruits were so hasty that they could no longer find their positions. They could only follow the 100th team, spread out their ranks, and block the enemy first.

At this moment, more enemy cavalry had rushed over and collided with the Egyptian infantry, who were also in a chaotic formation and just rushed forward in a group. As a result, the infantry not only failed to cover them, but blocked the road instead.

Most of the people in this group were the Mamluks wearing armor. They treated the Egyptian infantry even more violently than the Bedouins. They whipped anyone who blocked their way and told them to get out of the way. The Egyptian infantry were so scared that they dodged to the sides, allowing them to move forward.

But at this time, the people behind who didn't know the situation were still rushing forward, squeezing together with the people in front who were retreating, and they couldn't make way. Guo Kang and others had already rushed over, and Zhu Wenkui raised his musket and shot down a Mamluk carrying a flag. Hearing the gunshot, the Mamluks were all startled. The man in gorgeous armor, who was obviously the leader, immediately drew his sword, kicked his horse hard, and stepped through the infantry.

Others immediately followed suit, and saw anyone blocking their way, regardless of friend or foe, and went up to strike. Now, the Egyptian infantry was completely thrown into chaos.

Some people were still following the previous route to expand the gap to both sides, and they happened to run into the veterans of the first brigade. After a short fight, several of them were cut down. As a result, not only did the back not come to support, but they started fighting each other. The remaining people on the front line immediately lost their fighting spirit and turned around to run back.

Everyone in the enemy team was shouting in various languages. Guo Kang couldn't understand what they were saying, but it was obvious that the Egyptian infantry was confused by this inexplicable situation. In just one or two minutes, everyone went from the joy of victory to confusion.

He estimated that the enemy in the rear had finally figured out the situation here.

The infantrymen who had been fighting with the second battalion had already suffered heavy casualties. Seeing this chaos, they lost their will to continue. The infantrymen in the front row began to shout and look back and forth at the battle situation, and took the opportunity to retreat. Some people in the back row began to run away directly. Even the Mamluks who were supervising the battle hesitated and did not kill the deserters in time to stop the retreat. They probably didn't know whether to continue urging their men to attack, or to quickly let the infantrymen escape so that the people stuck inside could be released.

Guo Kang had already led Zhu Wenkui and the two guards to the flank. He saw that the Moriah brigade on the opposite side was also regrouping, constantly issuing orders, dispatching the various 100-man teams to restore their formation and attack the enemy here.

He asked Father Ivan to lead a group of people to support Captain Jessica, and the remaining two groups of Russians to follow him and charge forward. They must eliminate the enemies here as soon as possible. These few minutes were far from enough to reorganize the organization, so at present, the Russian recruits could only be counted as "groups"...

At this time, the sound of firearms firing and shouts of killing could be heard from the front of the battle line and behind the enemy infantry line. Now, all the enemies who were still hesitating stopped hesitating and turned around and ran.

"It should be the Eighth Legion that defeated them as well." Ma Wanjun said to Guo Kang, "It seems that although the Egyptians can't fight, they are quite durable." "It won't take long." Guo Kang was a little surprised: "I was prepared to hold out for an hour, but now it's only half an hour at most."

"We took two shifts, about 20 minutes, maybe a little longer." Ma Wanjun didn't have a timer with him, but he still calculated the time. "Counting the half hour of the previous battle, it's not short. When the Eighth Legion went to support Venice, the Milanese hired Aragonese mercenaries, but they defeated them in just one hour. From this point of view, the Egyptians are quite useful."

"After all, there are so many people here..." Guo Kang muttered.

Under their attack, the enemy's last resistance began to fall apart. Guo Kang asked Idris to go out and shout again, urging the enemy to surrender.

A large number of enemies, who had nowhere to run, dropped their weapons one after another. Some Mamluk cavalry, seeing that they could not squeeze out, shouted to Idris. He replied a few words, and the Mamluks also jumped off their horses and gave up resistance.

Guo Kang ordered Ma Wanjun and Old Hans to keep an eye on the man who looked like the leader and make sure to take him down. The two of them then led their own men and rushed forward. The enemies along the way had no intention of resisting and simply let them go.

The leader was still trying to escape, but the surrendered Egyptian infantrymen were more energetic. Facing the scolding from the leader and his followers, they no longer dodged but scolded back. The Mamluk raised his sword and swung it again. This time, seeing that there was nowhere to run, several Egyptian infantrymen picked up their spears and started fighting with those men.

Seeing someone taking the lead, the people around him also joined in. For a while, both sides cursed at each other. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ma Wanjun and others rushed forward, disarmed everyone, detained the leader, and made the others squat there, and then resolved the conflict.

However, there were too many people here, and many of them still escaped. Behind the infantry, the Mamluks, who were faster, also fled in advance. The Roman army did not have enough cavalry, and this time the two wings even had to rely on infantry to outflanking, so they were not able to block them all.

There were still some garrison troops in the nearby city of Damanhur, and Guo Kang estimated that they had all fled to the city. However, his brigade currently had no ability to pursue the enemy, so he could only let two veterans of the Centuriae continue to chase the enemy, and the rest of the people just had to watch over the people and wait for the legion to come to help.

The battle was not completely over until the afternoon.

During this period, the legion's messengers came several times. As soon as the enemy was defeated, a messenger came to ask about their losses and to see if Guo Kang and Zhu Wenkui were okay. They were relieved to find that they and Guo Kang's two cousins ​​were still fine. However, Wang Hongru disappeared, saying that he had run away with his own 100-man team chasing the enemy. Guo Kang himself had not noticed it before, so he could only send someone to chase him back quickly.

The messenger asked him to chase quickly and told him that the legion planned to send the First Battalion and the Night Watch Battalion to pursue the enemy. In this way, their Second Battalion would become the leftmost wing of the entire army. Therefore, they must be careful to prevent any unexpected situations.

Guo Kang agreed and sent the messenger away. However, there was no one on horseback on his side. In addition to the cavalry, the brigade originally had some horses for pulling carts, but after the battle, most of them were taken away in advance to prevent the startled horses from running into people.

The remaining horses were originally reserved by Zhu Wenkui for use in emergency situations to pull the artillery carts. However, the brigade was unexpectedly caught in a melee, and these horses were shot to death by the enemy's arrows when the Mamluk cavalry charged at them from behind.

Guo Kang had no choice but to borrow horses from friendly forces. Grand Master Roberto of the Knights Hospitaller was nearby, so Guo Kang borrowed two horses from him and sent a messenger to look for the people. Roberto was very generous and sent a few people to help escort them.

After sending the messenger off, he told Guo Kang helplessly that when the main force of the Mamluks rushed over, he had planned to take the initiative to intercept them, disperse the enemy's forces, and entangle them so that they could not rush to the rear of the legion without hindrance. Sir John, the general steward of the Knights Templar, and Bayram, the Emir of Hama, both agreed with his plan. So, they sent people to notify the 33rd Legion to cooperate, while gathering the surrounding troops, ready to intercept the Mamluks halfway.

According to the agreement before the war, Roberto, who had the largest number of troops, was the commander-in-chief of these troops, and the Syrian Mamluks on the left and other mercenaries had to obey his orders. However, when the Mamluks approached, the Turkmen and Kurdish mercenaries were afraid of the enemy's strength and dared not to follow them, but wanted to escape.

The Knights looked down on them. To prove their courage, several French knights rushed out first. But Roberto's idea was to get close to the enemy first, not just rush in...

Roberto believed that if the enemy still insisted on going around the rear of the infantry line, they would attack the enemy's flanks, forcing the enemy to not be able to attack the infantry with all their strength; if the enemy decided to defeat them first to ensure the safety of their front and back, they would entangle the enemy, fight and retreat, wait for the infantry of the 33rd Legion to rush up, counterattack and destroy the enemy cavalry. In this way, they could maximize the advantages of their elite infantry and limit the use of the enemy's elite cavalry.

However, after they charged forward, all their strategies became ineffective. The original plan of intercepting and luring the enemy turned into a mindless attack.

Roberto admitted that this was their own problem. Although the Knights' annual income was high enough to attract many knights and mercenaries, it was still essentially an international volunteer organization. Although it still had some scale and a fixed territory, it was no longer as strict as it was in the early years.

Currently, most of the knights in the Knights Templar are French. However, Grand Master Roberto is Italian. He was able to rise to the top because of his rich combat experience and his close relationship with the Vatican. He was able to attract a lot of sponsorship from the Pope and the city-states that supported the Pope. However, many knights did not even take this seriously - they were all French and supported the Avignon Vatican. They thought that Roberto was asking for trouble.

If the Knights still had their own territories in Palestine and Lebanon, and the knights had their own fiefs, then everyone would be neighbors who would prosper and suffer together, and they would obey orders. It is really hard to manage the current situation. Therefore, although he is the Grand Master, he cannot force the French knights to obey orders. Even if they go to give themselves up without thinking, he can't just watch and watch, and he has to try his best to get them out...

So, after the French knights charged, Grand Master Roberto could only follow and let John and Byram prepare for defense. But without so many mercenaries and the Knights Hospitaller, the two could not handle it alone. After the French were defeated by the Mamluks as expected, the coalition forces were immediately defeated. John and Byram organized a group of people to cover the rear, and also sent out messengers to urgently warn all friendly forces around. But they were both injured in the battle. Byram was a little better, and after being bandaged, he went to the camp to help identify and manage the prisoners. Sir John is still lying now...

After listening to Roberto's complaints, Guo Kang could only comfort him with a few words and then returned to the team.

At noon, Guo Kang and his men repaired the artillery carts and counted the casualties. Another messenger came to ask about Wang Hongru's condition. After learning that he was fine and had been called back, he told Guo Kang that many enemies had fled to the city of Damanhur and refused to surrender. Therefore, the legion hoped that they would make preparations, because if they attacked the city, their firearms would be indispensable.

Guo Kang said that the cannons are now ready, but some gunpowder had been used up in the previous battle, and the gunpowder the brigade brought with them is definitely not enough for the siege. They have to wait until the battlefield is cleaned up and there is no danger before sending people to the rear camp to get it.

The messenger told him that the first phase of the pursuit had ended. The camp had currently organized all the cavalry and five battalions of infantry to conduct a long-distance pursuit. The other units had already returned to prepare for the next phase of the battle.

Guo Kang needs to be on guard and patrol, checking the triangular area from here to the main road. If it can still be ensured to be safe, then the battlefield can be cleaned up.

After receiving the order, Guo Kang asked several veterans to rest, called Captain Lucas, and asked him to lead two hundred-man teams to conduct the search. As for other matters, they would wait for the new order from the legion.

(End of this chapter)